What motivates some Islamic clerics to advocate political violence? Prof. Richard Nielsen (MIT) talks about the frustrated pathways that many imams — who see themselves as scholars — face. When their intellectual ambition is blocked by actions of the state and other social conditions, one possible pathway is to advocate rebellion.

We are back from a short sabbatical and hope to have more fresh episodes in the offing.

When it comes to foreign policy and international relations, can theological ideas promoted by one country become “weapons” or “threats” to other regimes? Prof. Larry Rubin (Georgia Tech) discusses how the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the Sudanese Revolution of 1989 affected the ideational balance of power in the Middle East and how Egypt and Saudi Arabia mobilized ideational resources to respond.

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In the 10th century, Europe and the Middle East had comparable levels of economic development. Over the next several centuries, however, Christian Europe raced ahead of Muslim societies, developing the institutions that led to the Industrial Revolution and modern capitalism. Timur Kuran (Duke University) explains the role that Islamic Law played in this “long divergence.”

Did religion or church-state institutions have anything to do with the great economic divergence between Christian Europe and the Islamic world beginning in the 11th century? Prof. Jared Rubin of Chapman University reviews the economic history of these two civilizations, covers the dominant explanations for the observed divergence, and then discusses his own research showing that the relationship between religious and political authorities in each region of the world had a great deal to do with why Europe surged ahead economically. We focus primarily on the role of usury laws and financial interest, but Prof. Rubin gives us a taste of some of his work relating to the economic importance of the printing press.

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In the 10th century, Europe and the Middle East had comparable levels of economic development. Over the next several centuries, however, Christian Europe raced ahead of Muslim societies, developing the institutions that led to the Industrial Revolution and modern capitalism. Timur Kuran (Duke University) explains the role that Islamic Law played in this “long divergence.” (To download, right click on the button at the right and choose “save target as…”)